Ahmedabad: 250-year-old library preserving history

Much before the era of the printing press, books were written by hand, which are today known as manuscripts! And there's a whole library of manuscripts in Ahmedabad which has a collection of more than 4,000 manuscripts in Arabic and Persian languages. Interestingly, this library gets visitors who deal with history, from across the world. It is a favourite among history scholars and researchers because of its valuable books.

The Pir Muhammad Shah Libray is the oldest library of Ahmedabad, located at Pankornaka. The library is on the premises of the tomb-shrine complex of Pir Muhammad Shah, a Sufi saint who was born in Bijapur in 1688 and migrated to Ahmedabad in 1711.

According to historian Rizwan Kadri, the library has many unexplored documents. "Most of the documents stored in the library are in Urdu and Arabic languages, which have not been explored so far. There are many untold stories there which need to be told," said the historian.

Kadri further said that the library itself, which was established so many years ago, has historic value. "The library has the original seal of Ahmad Shah and a book that belongs to his time. Interestingly, the library has a rare handwritten version of the Quran by Aurangzeb," Kadri added.

"This place doesn't have regular readers. But we do have regular researchers and scholars as it is a gold mine for aspirants. The library has more foreign visitors than locals. It has a collection of books which was founded more than 250 years ago with some 300 manuscripts," said the caretaker of the library.

Treasures of the library

A 900-year-old book on astronomy in Arabic by Al-Biruni has been preserved here. Al-Burani had visited India in the 11th Century. The book is hand-written and the copy preserved in the library, is the only one in the world.